 |
| © linda germain 2012 agar agar in place of gelatin for printing? |
I have had some questions about whether it is possible to use the seaweed based, agar agar instead of gelatin when making gelatin prints. Well I tried it this past week end. I had to guess on the ratio of water to flakes of agar agar. The plate came out a bit stiff and brittle. I was able to make some prints. So I guess it is possible to use the agar agar. It did not work as well as gelatin for me, but I could have the recipe wrong. I used 1/2 the bag for 4 cups of water.
I reconstituted the plate and added more water. I will let you know if it is any less brittle. I think if you are familiar with cooking agar agar it helps a lot. There is a great resource that compares the two here.
 |
| © linda germain 2012 a “gelatin” print made on the agar agar plate |
Agar is an alternative for those who do not use animal products. Though I do not use it I have had several students who have tried the agar plate. They have had mixed results. Some have chosen to use the commercially available Gelli plate from Gelli Arts.
So there are plenty of printing plate options. It will depend on the artist’s goals and priorities which plate is preferred.
I love the spongey nature of the glycerin and gelatin plate recipe. I like the way it holds and transfers ink.
